If the idea of paying nothing or next to nothing for your favourite songs is music to your ears, then a portable MP3 player is probably high up on your shopping list. This new innovation in audio technology is redefining not only the way we buy music, but also how we store it. Just as cassette tapes supplanted vinyl records and CDs supplanted tapes, MP3 technology could well be the next big step in music technology's evolution.

The first portable MP3 players appeared on the market in early 1999. Since then, many more brands and models have emerged, putting the consumer in the fortunate, albeit somewhat confusing, position of having plenty of options. Luckily, there are a number of online sources out there to help you make the right choice. Future Shop offers a wide selection of portable MP3 players, plus a product comparison feature on its web site. And while you're surfing, don't forget to drop by Shop Wireless and Can Shop. The experts at Can Shop will even direct you to their favourite MP3 player (it's the RCA Lyra).

Small music is a big hit

MP3 is music diminished -- compressed into small computer disk files. But don't let its size fool you. Despite MP3's compressed format, it still delivers near-CD-quality music. MP3's biggest selling point, however, is that it allows consumers to download music from the Internet either free of charge or for a nominal fee. Apparently, the concept is hitting the right notes with a lot of people. Check out http://www.mp3.com/, a leading provider of MP3-formatted music. They recently tallied up its members and came up with the staggering figure of 10 million! Not bad for a web site that only launched in February 1999.

How it works

Before you can start listening to music on your portable MP3 player, you need to set up your computer to download MP3 files. Attention computer novices: do not panic. This is a quick and easy process. All you have to do is go to MP3.com or a similar web site, and download the MP3 player software. The download is free and, with a 56K modem, should take only about two minutes to complete.

Once you've installed the MP3 player software on your computer, you can start downloading song files. This is where the fun part truly begins. There are, literally, hundreds of thousands of sites to choose from. Once you've selected the songs you want, you can store them either on your hard drive or on an online storage space. And when you're ready to listen to a song or two, you can play your MP3 files on your computer, or copy the songs onto your portable MP3 player.

Narrowing your choices

When it comes to sound quality, the various portable MP3 players seem to be more or less on an equal footing. But you get a better sense of what to consider when buying an MP3 player when you talk about options such as storage capacity and media, PC connection, and additional features like voice recorders and radios. Most models have a memory capacity of either 32 MB, which stores about 30 minutes of music, or 64 MB, which is good for about an hour. The type of connector is also an important factor to consider. Updating the music on your player takes longer -- and requires a lot more steps -- with a parallel port connector. The USB, Universal Serial Bus, connector on the other hand is considered to be faster and more reliable.

Moving at the speed of evolution

Not surprisingly, many record labels disapprove of MP3 and want to step in with some kind of copy-protection system. In the United States, record companies have come up with a protocol called Secure Digital Music Initiative, or SDMI for short. The idea is to encode recordings with SDMI, so that only compatible MP3 players can play them. At present, most portable MP3 players are not SDMI-compatible, meaning that, in future, they will not be able to play new, SDMI-encoded releases. This is not to say they'll be obsolete; they can still play tunes from your vast collection of pre-SDMI music.

Glossary

MP3 is short for MPEG-1 Layer 3, a data compression scheme. MPEG is an acronym for the Moving Pictures Experts Group, which was created in 1988 to develop standards for the coding of movies and audio.

SmartMedia and CompactFlash cards are types of storage formats used in portable MP3 players. CompactFlash cards have a larger capacity -- storing at least twice as much as the biggest SmartMedia.

Quirks

MP3 is a hot topic these days. Some might even say explosive. But that only makes it more exciting. To keep up-to-date on what's happening in the MP3 and music industries, check out www.mp3hits.net/users/impact, an online magazine for music news.